Carefree wants the Phoenix Art Museum to consider a satellite location, but museum officials say they are taking a cautious approach in light of the Heard Museum’s recent closure of a satellite in north Scottsdale.

Town officials and developer Ed Lewis have been courting the museum for a few months.

The museum is being coveted as the anchor for the $90 million Butte Development of luxury condos and retail shops in Carefree’s town center. The development will include 80 condos and 50,000 square feet of retail and could break ground by the end of this year if the art museum comes on board. The proposed museum would be 10,000 square feet and plans include an exhibition schedule that rotates seven times per year.

“One of the things up here is that when you talk to people ... is that people participate very broadly with the arts,” said Carefree Vice Mayor Les Peterson. “(The museum) fits right in with us and how we envision ourselves. It struck a chord with us.”

If approved, the museum would complement the town’s efforts to create a villagelike atmosphere similar to Santa Fe or Carmel, Calif., which would draw people not only from surrounding communities but tourists in other parts of the Valley.

Jim Ballinger, Phoenix Art Museum director, said the museum board is being cautious about the idea.

“The issue is, in one word, sustainability. Is there a business plan that can demonstrate this satellite can sustain itself through earned and contributed income?” Ballinger said. “Our board has a financial responsibility to the Phoenix Art Museum ... and we’re still trying to come out of the recession. The board really wants to be able to know what their risk level is.”

Ballinger called the closing of the Heard Museum North in north Scottsdale after 15 years a “loud message” that “listening to your stomach” and “what you’re hearing” about future success of a satellite location is not enough.

Heard North, just south of the Carefree border in The Summit at Scottsdale, is scheduled to close in April. Among the reasons cited by Heard officials was that anticipated development in the surrounding area did not occur during the recession and many of the homes in the area are owned by part-time residents. Heard North operated for 15 years, first at the nearby el Pedregal shopping center, then at The Summit at Scottsdale since 2007.

Under the proposed art museum deal, the town of Carefree would buy a structure, built by Lewis, at cost and lease it to the museum for $1 a year. Town officials want a long-term commitment from the museum.

Ballinger has met this month with northeast Valley non-profits and the philanthropic community and will continue to discuss the potential for annual museum memberships, continuing donations and participation. “Will people from Anthem come over, will people from DC Ranch come over? I don’t know that yet,” he said.

At some point, a marketing study may need to be done that provides hard data, he said.

Ballinger has been in discussions with a museum in Palm Springs, Calif., that has a satellite location in Palm Desert but there are not many other museums with satellite location models to consider, he said.

In the 1970s and ’80s, the Phoenix Art Museum did have a small exhibition space inside a former bank building in Sun City. It was well-received but eventually morphed into a Sun City community art center exhibiting local artists, he said.

Gary Neiss, Carefree town administrator, said the Phoenix Art Museum is “a different animal” than the Heard Museum North and suggested the art museum would generate enough interest from the Carefree area to make it viable.

He added the condo and commercial development, a Phoenix Art Museum satellite space and a new, dedicated committee of property owners and merchants could be the trifecta needed to awaken the town from the recession’s slump.

“Real estate in Carefree is starting to take off,” Neiss said. “The diversity of the museum’s portfolio will attract a real good critical mass, and we think their broad appeal and what they embody will complement Carefree and serve as a draw.”

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